•Process agricultural goods worth N70bn for export
By Steve Agbota,[email protected]
The Apapa Command of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) yesterday, said that it intercepted 143,800,000 tablets of Tramadol 225 milligrams worth N21.600 billion imported from India.
The Command also recorded a total collection of N212.592 billion revenue between January and March, 2023, after processing agricultural goods worth over N70 billion for exports within the period.
Speaking during a media briefing, the Controller of the Command, Auwal Mohammed, said the command uncovered large quantities of Tramadol tablets concealed in 2X40ft containers 143,800,00 and tablets of tramadol 225 milligrams discovered in 720 cartons weighing 10.3 kilograms that originated from India. On anti-smuggling, he said: “Our resolve to enforce government fiscal policies and extant laws to ensure that all import and export consignments transiting through Apapa Ports are duly examined has been strengthened through effective collaboration and timely sharing of credible intelligence with sister government agencies in the Port.”
Within the period under review, he added that the command siezed 14 containers of prohibited items such as vegetable oil, footwears, used clothings and tramadol tablets with a Duty Paid (DPV) of N22.099 billion.
“We are on the look out for those behind such unlawful importation for arrest and very soon we will track them down to face the full wrath of the law. As a service, we owe Nigerians the duty to prevent this kind of importation from entering the market to safeguard the health of the citizenry,” he added.
However, he warned the perpetrators of smuggling, duty evasion and other forms of criminality frowned upon by the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) and other extant laws, that Apapa command will only facilitate legitimate trade.
Speaking on export trade, he said the command processed agricultural goods such as sesame seeds, ginger, hibiscus, mineral resources, steel ingot and others with a total tonnage of 110,448 metric tonnes in the first quarter of 2023.
According to him, statistics from the export report shows that exported goods are worth about N70 billion, which is equivalent to Free on Board (FoB) value of $159,845,232.84.
However, he noted that the Command’s functions of revenue generation and collection, suppression of smuggling and facilitating legitimate trade were consistently implemented within the first three months of 2023.
“While I am meeting with various stakeholders and partner government agencies to ensure the tempo of compliance is sustained and improved upon, the Command stood forthright in foiling attempts at smuggling prohibited items into and out of the country.
“Since my assumption of duty here, I have been meeting with various stakeholder groups comprising importers, exporters, licensed agents, freight forwarders, and others. These meetings are yielding results and will sustained in days ahead.
“In this command, we have a deliberate culture of inter-agency collaboration with other government organisations. Within this first three months, I have enjoyed robust sharing of credible intelligence and support from other agencies of government, he added.